


a glimmer of hope

by skittykitty



Series: Badlands!Techno [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: "Fabulous // Technoblade Animatic" by TheToyBoxes, Angst and Feels, Assassins & Hitmen, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Character Study, Gen, Gladiator Technoblade, Gladiators, Heavy Angst, I SWEAR ITS A HAPPY ENDING, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jschlatt & Technoblade Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade-centric (Video Blogging RPF), assassin technoblade, but i think no one will agree with me on that, hypixel is like one big island in this, let him sleep, techno is tired of being used as a weapon, that idea is from the animatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittykitty/pseuds/skittykitty
Summary: Techno has finally escaped from the gladiatorial pits of Hypixel. He goes to tournaments and he always comes out on top. Then, an old friend requests he come to L’Manberg to make sure he wins the election and everything he's worked so hard for begins to fall apart.
Relationships: Darryl Noveschosch & Technoblade, Jschlatt & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade
Series: Badlands!Techno [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110746
Comments: 19
Kudos: 337





	a glimmer of hope

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in a sitting!! The title is from "Violence - Technoblade's Theme [Dream SMP]" by Kanaya!

It all started long before he was approached to join Wilbur’s rebellion.

Maybe it began when he was a gladiator before he was even of age. Sixteen— alone and afraid— he became the champion of Skywars.

People ran when he was announced as a participant. People targeted him.

Techno won anyway.

After two years of standing at the top of the leaderboards, he left Skywars for a new home. Bedwars was a new type of game, one which was much more popular nowadays than Skywars. 

He benefited more from Bedwars than he would from Skywars.

So he stayed, and he won. 

For years he stayed that way.

* * *

A tournament was announced. It would be held weekly, and he would be paid for his efforts. Much more than a single tournament had ever gotten him before.

He won his first few tournaments, but soon the tournament itself seemed to be against him. They teamed him with worse and worse partners, so it felt like he had to cheat to win.

Luckily, he managed a few more wins before the tournament ended completely.

Schlatt was one of the many connections he gained through the experience. A man who would call on him to… get rid of his competition. Techno would always agree, for a cost.

There was blood on his hands, but he wished  _ desperately  _ to escape being a gladiator for the rest of his life.

So he accepted the jobs. And he  _ killed. _

* * *

About two months after it had all begun, he stopped.

Schlatt didn’t have any political opponents left for him to kill, so he was free.

Techno was free to do whatever he wished, so he did nothing.

There was nothing he enjoyed, was there? All he knew was blood and death, and he couldn’t exactly do that outside of going back to being a gladiator.

Now he finally had enough money to be financially stable for the rest of his life.

He would never have to kill ever again.

_ (So why was he so scared of that phone ringing again? Of Schlatt telling him he had one last thing to do before he could be free… that he would  _ never _ be free.) _

* * *

After a week of nothing, he was invited to another event. It was not a gladiator-style tournament, surprisingly. 

It was a fairly large area for the participants' to have fun in. He had been invited by… Wilbur Soot… hadn’t he teamed with him in a tournament before?

Maybe.

His memory was slowly worsening. 

_ (All he could remember from day to day was the blood on his hands and the names of his fallen friends.) _

God, he missed them. 

TapL, Calvin, Nestor, god, Techno hadn’t spoken to them in  _ years. _

_ (They had stayed as gladiators. He had left them behind. He could have stayed with his friends.) _

They had accepted that he had wanted to leave.

_ (Calvin had already left before him.) _

He’d stay out here— alone— for as long as they needed. Maybe he’d wait until they needed him— until there wasn’t a chance they could afford to abandon him.

* * *

On SMPEarth, he had planned to be alone. 

Then, Phil had joined his little crusade.

Maybe he didn’t have to be alone. 

_ (He was active for a few good weeks. A few weeks of laughing with Phil, of bullying Tommy, and of being  _ happy.)

* * *

For the next few months, he was busy with tournaments, but his past would always come back to haunt him.

_ Techno, I have a job for you. _

All good things had to come to an end.

* * *

Schlatt wanted to win an election for the presidency of some small country by the Dream SMP. L’Manberg, or something.

It didn’t matter to him.

_ (Nothing mattered.) _

He didn’t pay attention to the name of his would-be victim, didn’t listen to anything, really. Techno had a job and he would do it  _ well. _

The deal was this: Techno would kill the winner of the election if they were not Schlatt.

That was it.

It was simple.

_ (His crossbow sat on his lap, a firework ready to be shot at whoever would stand upon that stage.) _

Wilbur walked up, a smile on his face.

Techno’s hands shook.

Was being free really worth this cost?

What would Schlatt do to him if he refused?

He didn’t want to kill a friend.

With terror in his eyes, Techno watched on as Wilbur announced he had won, only to begin to backtrack. During the announcement, Schlatt stared up at the tree Techno was hidden in. There was victory in his eyes.

_ What was he planning? _

From his spot, Techno couldn’t hear well, but he saw as Schlatt sauntered up to the stage.

“That was pretty easy.”

_ Schlatt had won, somehow. _

Techno wouldn’t have to kill anyone, not today.

He left the territory as fast as possible, ignoring the disgust stirring in his gut.

This wasn’t his problem.

* * *

The next day he was contacted by Wilbur and Tommy.

_ Did they know? _

Wilbur was hesitant about trusting him—  _ he was right to not trust Techno—,  _ but Tommy had accepted him with open arms. Tommy didn’t doubt that Techno would be able to help them.

_ To help them against Schlatt’s tyranny. _

How ironic.

* * *

The days went by slowly, as he stayed up day by day, helping create a good base for Pogtopia. 

He farmed, he mined, he did everything that could be of use to the resistance.

Wilbur still didn’t trust him.

_ (“He’s too strong, Tommy.” Wilbur sighed, “He has all the power, we just have to make sure he never uses it against  _ us.”)

After a few days of that treatment, Techno made his own underwater base.

No one knew where it was.

It was supposed to be temporary, for enchanting his armor, but he wound up staying there more than he was at Pogtopia’s base.

* * *

Soon enough, Techno was invited to the Festival by Schlatt himself.

_ (He must have something planned.) _

It was nice at first, with just a small group of people.

Bad was nice, and he seemed to be against Schlatt. 

(Maybe he could recruit him for Pogtopia?)

Sooner rather than later, things took a turn for the worse.

_ Tubbo was trapped onstage. _

“Hey, Technoblade, you wanna come up here for a second?”

* * *

Schlatt was  _ screaming  _ and he reeked of anger and— and  _ guilt.  _

_ (“You betrayed me, Techno.”) _

But he was telling him to kill Tubbo. 

_ (“You were my friend,” Schlatt murmured.) _

Techno raised his crossbow.

“I’ll make it as painless as possible, Tubbo.”

* * *

Tubbo was gone, but so was everyone else.

Techno turned to the audience behind him, seeing frozen—  _ terrified— _ faces staring up at him.

He frantically searched the crowd, hoping someone would trust him.  _ (Wilbur had left his spot on the roof, and Tommy was screaming.) _

He spotted one pair of eyes.

They weren’t scared.

Bad stared up at him with  _ hope  _ in his eyes.

* * *

Tommy hated him, and Wilbur didn’t trust him.

It was fine.

But Wilbur kept calling on him,  _ using him. _

Acting like… like he was just a  _ weapon. _

Using him like Schlatt once had.

* * *

Techno was the backbone of Pogtopia.

Wilbur knew it, that was why he kept the most likely to betray them around.

So when Techno disappeared one night, they  _ did _ worry.

They worried about the loss of their power.

* * *

“You… you guys want neutrality, right?” Techno asked, staring at his hands. They were clear, clear of any of Tubbo’s blood.

“Yeah, that’s our main goal, Techno. But you already knew that” dark eyes stared into his own, a strange intensity in them. “What do you want with us?”

“I want to join the Badlands… I’m tired of being  _ used.” _

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! You can find me on my [tumblr](https://skitter-kitteruwu.tumblr.com/) where you can pester me to finish half-thought out ideas and scream to me about fics!!


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